GAME AS A NATIONAL RESOUECE. 



21 



lishecl a report based on data obtained from game wardens and 

 special observers showing in detail the amount and value of game 

 killed in each county during the season of 1920, In most cases 

 the returns are marked so as to show whether the game is increasing 

 or decreasing. A careful study of the figures brings out several 

 interesting facts, as, for example, the section in which certain kinds 

 of game are most abundant. In the case of deer more than 90 per 

 cent Avere killed in the southeastern part of the State, while nearly 

 80 per cent of the bears were obtained in Nansemond and Rockingham 

 Counties. Following are the totals for each kind of game killed : 



Game killed in Virghiia in 1920. 



Kind of game. 



Quail 



Pheasants . . . 

 Wild turkeys 



Doves 



Woodcock . . . 



Deer 



Bears 



Number. 



Value. 



166,570 



$83,285.00 



5,175 



6,468.75 



4,122 



12,366.00 



8,410 



2,102.50 



3,105 



1, 552. 50 



■ 691 



17,275.00 



117 



3,510.00 



Kind of game. 



Rabbits . . . 

 Squirrels. . 

 Raccoons. . 

 Opossums . 



Muskrats . . 



Total. 



Number. 



293, 625 

 108, 535 

 15,611 

 43,436 

 70,430 



$146,812.50 

 21,707.00 

 46,833.00 

 43,436.00 

 70,430.00 



455, 778. 25 



The most comprehensive work in connection with game enumera- 

 tions has been done by the Conservation Commission of New York. 

 In the winters of 1915 and 1916, and subsequently, when the deer 

 were yarded, every game j)rotector was required to report on the 

 number seen in his territory, based' on observations on the deer in 

 the yards, their tracks, and such other data as were available. 

 Monthly reports were required at other seasons, and as a result of 

 the inA'estigation, extending over several years, the deer population 

 of the State in 1919 was found to be approximately 50,000. Other 

 investigations relative to grouse, woodcock, and waterfowl also were 

 made. During 1919 applicants for hunting licenses were required 

 to file with their applications a statement of the numbers and kinds 

 of game animals and birds killed during the previous year and were 

 furnished with a card on which to keep an itemized record of the 

 game killed under the new license. It is necessary to return these 

 cards before any subsequent license is issued. In this way the 

 license system is made the means of obtaining more nearly complete 

 and accurate statistics than have hitherto been available. As stated 

 in an interesting report by the conservation commissioner in a paper 

 read before the International Association of Fish, Game, and Con- 

 servation Commissioners in 1918 : 



The paramount feature of New York's game census system is that it is 

 founded upon definite observation and demonstrable facts. It sliould enable 

 us to keep every wise law upon our statute books and to bring about changes 



